Banks join fight against terror, criminals

The federal government and banking sector are joining forces to gather the crucial financial intelligence to stop terror attacks and other organised criminals.

The world-first Fintel Alliance, launched in Sydney on Friday, will harness the collective knowledge of 19 partners including federal and NSW police, financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC, the Australian Taxation Office, Western Union, PayPal and the big four banks.

"For terrorists, if they were to successfully plan an attack, finance is an essential part of that and the concern for national security operations is that very small amounts of money can be very dangerous," he said, citing the small transactions used to fund the Bali bombings which killed 88 Australians in 2002.

Mr Keenan said Australia has experienced four terror attacks on home soil due to the "perverted inspiration" of Islamic State, however, agencies have also stopped 12 serious attacks over the past 2.5 years.

"If any one of those attacks were to have gone ahead, they would have completely changed the face of our country," the justice minister said.

Australia must keep ahead of these "innovative" criminals as the enterprise attracts billions of dollars, he said.

"We are fighting enemies that are neither restricted by laws, jurisdictions or resources," Mr Jevtovic said.

"Our only real strength that can have an enduring impact is a genuine partnership involving our community, industry and government agencies."

Aidan O'Shaughnessy, from the Australian Bankers' Association, said bank customers expect their personal and financial information to be kept safe so the partnership's "two-way sharing of knowledge" is built on trust.

The Fintel Alliance is underpinned by a training program for financial intelligence analysts, with a successful pilot completed this month and a tertiary-accredited course to be rolled out later this year.